Eighty steps, fifty steps, thirty steps...
"put!"
Yang Chao shouted.
The soldiers behind the shield cart suddenly ripped off the tarpaulin, revealing twenty dark earthenware jars.
These pottery jars were placed on a makeshift launcher—made overnight by craftsmen in Yang Chaojun's army; though crude, they were barely usable.
hiss hiss hiss—
The fuse is lit.
"throw!"
The soldiers swung their arms and hurled the burning pottery jars with all their might.
These flaming oil canisters traced arcs of blue smoke as they fell into the charging Henan cavalry.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The earthenware jar shattered, and a thick, black liquid splattered everywhere.
Immediately afterwards, the spark ignited—
boom!!!
Twenty clusters of flames exploded almost simultaneously!
This is not the explosive flame of a thunderclap, but a viscous, persistent, and highly adhesive burning.
The warhorses and cavalrymen who were splashed with water instantly turned into burning figures, their shrill neighs and screams echoing across the battlefield.
The fire spread rapidly, igniting the dry grass and forming walls of fire.
The charging cavalry formation was thrown into chaos.
Warhorses are naturally afraid of fire. When startled, they run wildly and disrupt their own formation.
"Now!" Yang Chao drew his sword and pointed forward. "All troops, charge! Thunderclap bombs, throw them into the tortoise formation!"
Thirty small thunderbolts were lit and thrown with great effort by strong soldiers, aimed directly at the back of Sun Hanjun's tortoise-shell formation's shield wall.
Boom boom boom boom—!
A series of explosions rang out amidst the dense ranks of soldiers.
Small-sized thunderclaps have limited power, but their concentrated numbers make them effective. The shockwaves and shrapnel generated by the explosions cause terrible casualties among densely packed crowds.
The blow to morale was particularly devastating—the Henan soldiers, who had never seen firearms before, were terrified by the thunderous explosion and the severed limbs of their comrades.
A gap appeared in the tortoise shell formation.
"kill--!"
Yang Chao took the lead, personally leading two thousand reserve troops to break through the gap.
The pent-up anger of the Jiannan Mountain soldiers, which had been building up for over a month, finally erupted. Wielding their swords and spears, they charged into the enemy ranks like wolves and tigers.
Sun Han's face turned pale. He tried his best to reorganize the formation, but Yang Chao's army was launching a fierce frontal attack, the cavalry on both flanks were blocked by the sea of fire and could not return to provide reinforcements, and the soldiers were intimidated by the firearms, and their morale had collapsed.
"General! We can't hold on any longer! Let's retreat!" the lieutenant said urgently, his face covered in soot.
Looking at the enemy troops surging towards them like a tidal wave, and at the cavalrymen whose bodies were engulfed in flames and still screaming in agony, Sun Han finally gritted his teeth and shouted, "Take cover from each other and retreat to the south! Quickly!"
The sound of the retreat rang out.
The Henan army began to retreat.
But the retreat quickly turned into a rout.
Yang Chaojun pursued relentlessly, especially the mountain infantry, who ran swiftly through the mountains and hills, constantly intercepting and killing the fleeing soldiers from the flanks.
This battle lasted from the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) to the end of the hour of Si (9-11 AM), a little over an hour in total.
Sun Han's 3,000 vanguard suffered more than half losses, with fewer than 1,500 escaping back, most of whom were in disarray and abandoned their armor.
Yang Chaojun suffered fewer than 800 casualties and captured countless weapons and equipment.
When Sun Han led his remaining troops in a hasty retreat of twenty miles south, finally encountering Zhang Tao's main force, he dismounted, knelt down, and begged for forgiveness, tears streaming down his face.
Zhang Tao, in his forties, had a thin face and a sinister look in his eyes.
After hearing the battle report, he remained silent for a long time, only gazing at the lingering smoke and dust in the northern sky.
"Firearms... Yang Chao really has colluded with Zhao Muyun." He muttered, then asked sharply, "You said there was a large army on the flank, but did you see their banners?"
"The smoke and dust are too thick to make out the specific banners, but judging from their formation, there are at least ten thousand people!"
Sun Han prostrated himself and said, "This humble general suspects that those are the reinforcements that Zhao Muyun transferred from Xijing!"
Zhang Tao quickly made a decision in his mind.
He had 20,000 troops under his command, originally intended to take over Yang Chao's forces. However, Yang Chao has now rebelled and commands 50,000 troops, with Zhao Muyun as his backup.
If we attack rashly, our chances of winning are slim.
But if we retreat without a fight, how can we explain it to His Majesty?
"Order the entire army to set up camp on the spot, dig deep trenches and build high walls, and strengthen vigilance."
Zhang Tao finally ordered, "Send out more scouts to investigate the situation in Wannian City and the Ziwu Valley."
"The swift horse reports to His Majesty that Yang Chao has indeed rebelled and is colluding with Zhao Muyun. He possesses firearms. My vanguard has suffered a setback and I request reinforcements. Alternatively, I may be allowed to temporarily avoid the enemy's advance and seek another opportunity to fight."
He needed time to figure out Zhao Muyun's true intentions and to wait for further instructions from the imperial court.
The secret edict from Li Jingang, and the copy that Sun Han brought back, were like a thorn in his heart—did His Majesty truly trust him completely?
Will he end up being discarded after eliminating Yang Chao?
......
On the same day, in Xijing, at the Prince of Jin's residence.
Yin Ji handed a scroll of proclamation to Pei Lun, Fan Nan, and Zhou Hong, his brow furrowed: "Gentlemen, do you think this is an appropriate way to write it?"
Pei Lun and the other two took the book and read it carefully.
The manifesto was issued in the name of the Emperor of the Great Yin Dynasty, denouncing Li Jingang as a traitor who usurped the country, listing the achievements and misfortunes of Yang Yan and his nephew Yang Chao, and claiming that their rebellion was a righteous act and that they had abandoned darkness for light.
The article clearly states that Dayin expressed deep sympathy for the plight of Yang Yan and his nephew and was willing to accept them without holding grudges.
"Is the attitude towards Yang Chao in the text too ambiguous?" Pei Lun pondered.
"That's the effect I wanted." Yinji walked to the window and looked at the fallen leaves in the courtyard. "This proclamation is for the people of the world to see, especially for the prefectures and counties in Henan, Hebei, and Jiannan."
“Li Jingang is a traitor who seized the throne of my Great Yin Dynasty. Now, he has only been on the throne of the false emperor for a year, and he has already caused the world to be devastated and killed his meritorious officials.”
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